Description

You like your government very, very small—or none at all. You are a real
libertarian.
Want to run for Congress? State legislature?
You might want to join the Libertarian Party
and they'll put you on the ballot.
Put in some effort and you could be state chair in a couple of years.
Whether this effort is worthwhile is debatable.
Back when I was a party member I wrote these
Essays on World Liberation
in the hope of turning the LP into a real political party.
Though I have mellowed out since those days, and focus on higher-probability
strategies, I still find I cannot resist the temptation to write on
libertarian strategy, but be forewarned: some of the lessons I have learned are rather hard.

Campaign 2016

This is a year of mixed blessings and curses for radical libertarians.
On the one hand, the Republicans have dropped all pretense of being in favor of
smaller government -- at least at the top of the ticket.
Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party has nominated a pair of former Republican governors
who are doing a terrible job of explaining libertarian theory.

On the other hand, Gary Johnson could actually win.
This wouldn't result in Libertopia, but it would end the War on Marijuana, reduce
foreign intervention, and reign in some federal spending.
Keep in mind that Gary Johnson's hard tack to the left is
in order to go after the Bernie voters.

You might want to hold your nose and cash in on this opportunity. Spread the word
as hard as you can and do your part to boost his poll numbers up to 15%.

Or you might want to play John Galt and wait for civilization to collapse. Your call.

Fun Reads for Radical Libertarians

Imagine smaller government -- or none at all. It can be fun, or a downright wild ride (in the
case of Snow Crash). For this reason I present you with
a list of libertarian utopias for your reading pleasure.
The page also includes some satire and dystopias to keep you honest. Expectation management is
important, you know.

Capitalism warning: if you buy using my links (including the picture links) I make a small
commission from Amazon. If this upsets your inner socialist, go visit a physical bookstore, or
search for the titles manually.

You might also enjoy some of the social liberal utopias
as well. Buy and give to your liberal friends to make them think libertarianish thoughts...

Political Campaigns, Parties and Related Organizations

Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson wants to broaden the political
debate in America to include an oft-neglected value: Liberty.

Your views are frankly outside the mainstream. If you don't have the
patience to wait until the mainstream adopts your views, you could
move to a small state where other radical libertarians are congregating:
New Hampshire. The Free
State Project has not achieved its original goal of getting 20,000
libertarians to commit to moving, but many libertarians have moved anyway.

Political Strategy

Essays on World Liberation.
Once upon a time, I was a hardcore activist in the Libertarian Party, going
so far to sit on the National Committee and be on the Strategic Planning Team (SPT).
These essays are an outgrowth of said experiences and my experiments in the field.
Since then, I have
concluded that the Libertarian Party is not the optimical vehicle for liberty;
it is too radical to win many elections. Furthermore, I have mellowed over
time and have become more sensitive to issues other than liberty and the
size of government.
So I am no longer an LP member, but if you are (or become one) some of these
essays may prove useful.

Take Back Your Government, by Robert A. Heinlein. A handbook
for grassroots political activism from the days before professional
consultants and television. Dated, but still useful.

Dedication and Leadership by Douglass Hyde. An inside look
at how the Communist movement was so successful in advancing its radical
agenda. Many of the ideas are apropos for building up the
political movements in general. Must reading for anyone doing third party politics.

The Hard Questions

Many members of the axiomatic school of libertarianism often overlook certain
hard questions/edge conditions, and thereby lose debates. Here are some
readings (including a couple by an anarchist) that should prove
helpful.

The Machinery of Freedom, by David Friedman.
This book looks at the economics of government itself. What are the
incentives of those who govern? To what degree are they motivated to
promote the general welfare?

The answer: not very much. For this reason Dr. Friedman is an anarchist.
But you don't have to be in order to benefit from this book.
Indeed, knowing the inherent difficulties in making government behave is more
important for those who like government big than for those who like it small.

Law's Order, by David Friedman.
OK, so you believe in property rights, right? So where does your property begin
and mine end? Do I have the right to turn on the lights or do the photons that
hit your property constitute tresspass? What if those photons come from a high
powered laser?

OK, that was an extreme example, but there are many real world examples where the
simplistic view of property rights fails. Dr. Friedman gives them a hard look.
People will take your ideas more seriously if you do too.

Simple Rules for a Complex World, by Richard Epstein.
It would be nice to simply say that private property is good and
that initiation of force is bad and
build a legal system based on this dictum. Alas, the real world is not so
simple. Legal scholar Richard Epstein points out the holes and suggests
additional axioms to make a complete legal system for a free society.

Fuzzy Thinking, by Bart Kosko.
Fuzzy Logic is one of the biggest advancements in philosophy to come around in a long
time. It deals with the imperfect mapping between words and reality. Must reading for
the philosophically inclined, especially followers of Ayn Rand or Murray Rothbard.

A Perfect Mess by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman.
Does your office have a clean desk policy? Does it try to document all
processes in the name of efficiency? Are planners trying to remake your
home city? Do you think that the laws should be based upon a clean
axiomatic framework?
This book provides a powerful antidote to such thinking. Reality is
multi-dimensional, and the results can be...messy.

Freedom, equality, morality, nature,...these are all good things. All to often,
political debate rages over which is more important. Synergies get
overlooked. There is a better way,
holistic politics.
By looking at multiple values at the same time, it is possible to come up
with creative solutions for the world's problems,
solutions that make
all the factions more happy.

How do we get back to sound money and a stable economy? How do we replace ridiculous
financial regulations with accountability?
Read Finance and Freedom to find out.
You will also find some fun potshots at Keynesian Economics and the Paradox of Thrift.
To the Krugmobile!